Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken

What's Up? Chicken Butt.

It's summertime here in Alabama, and if you know anything about Alabama, it's hot. As Hell. And it's not that beachy, breezy, summer heat here. No. It's like stifling. Like sticking your head in an oven. Between 1pm and 5pm you don't want to be outside. Sometimes not even in a pool. It's a can't breathe, want to die kind of hot here.

Thinking of that kicks my ADD into overdrive and brings me to another subject. Why on earth would anyone leave their pet in a vehicle in this? I was going to say "or child", but I realize that's not on purpose most of the time. So I'll stick with pet. You must be an idiot. Even with the windows down, it's still too hot. And I will bust your windows out to rescue your animal. Just saying. Here's my dog. He doesn't get left in vehicles.

Ok back to summer. I wanted to cook something healthy and light with a cool flavor for this particularly hot summer day. Roasted chicken is always a winner around here, and a nice lemon pepper chicken seems perfect for a summer dinner meal.

Now, don't be intimidated if you've never roasted a whole chicken before. It can seem daunting if you've never done it and to be honest, it scared me too. I thought I was going to have to dig all the "guts" out with my hand, but they put them in a nice little bag for me :). Now side note about me... I am not a raw chicken fan. I can't stand to look at it, touch it, or smell it. It grosses me out and freaks me out. I've had a habit in the past of overcooking chicken to the point of dryness, because the thought of it being undercooked scares the beegees out of me. So, I invested in a thermometer so I don't have to make everyone suffer dry meat. And because I started with a raw chicken and I don't think it looks appetizing, I'm only posting a photo of the finished product and not as it's being prepared. I figure you don't want to look at it either.

By the way, I served this with Corn Casserole and Mac and Cheese and for dessert; Apple Upside Down Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze.

Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken:

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry

1 stick salted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons, quartered

2 tablespoons of lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Place the chicken on the rack of roasting pan that has been filled with 1/2″ of water. Tuck the wings under the body of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the lemon quarters. Now, I don't own a roasting pan, so I used a cookie cooling rack placed over a deep pan with 1/2" water. Works just the same. Just saying.
3. Mix the butter, salt, pepper and lemon zest together in a small bowl.  Gently slide your hand under the skin on each breast to create two pockets. Spread 1/3 of the butter mixture under the skin on one side, then smooth it out by rubbing the top of the skin. Repeat with the second side.
4. Spread the remaining butter mixture on top of the chicken. Drizzle with olive oil.
5. Roast the chicken for about 75 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and the juices run clear. Temperature with an instant-read thermometer should read about 165°F when taken deeply in the thigh.

Apple Upside Down Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Allow me to introduce myself before we get to cooking. I am Ashley. A mother of 3 children whom I dearly love, but want to lock in a room for about 2 hours of peace from time to time. Just kidding. But you see, I have recently become a stay at home mom and housewife... who also works... Yeah. That's right. I work at night so I can stay home with my kids during the day. Yeah. I've lost my mind. But I do love it. It's always been my dream job. So I'm really trying to prove that I can do it ha! It's so hard, but rewarding.
So to keep myself busy (not that I'm just laying around eating bon bons; I have 3 kids ranging from 2 to 6 for God's sake), I have discovered a love of cooking. Which is also weird because I had Gastric Bypass surgery 4 months ago. So, I spend my day cooking gorgeous meals and desserts that I can't eat. It's kind of like a recovering alcoholic that works as a bartender I guess. It's... therapy? I guess.
Anyway, today I decided to make a wonderful meal for my family for dinner. On the menu: Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken, Corn Casserole, Macaroni and Cheese, and for dessert Apple Upside Down Cake. Since I decided to bake that first this morning, I made it my first post. By the way, it's in the oven right now and it smells delicious!

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer. I do not have a fancy schmancy camera. Nor do I have a fancy stainless commercial style kitchen. This is real food, in a real kitchen. Get over it.

Apple Upside Down Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients for Cake:
1 Cup Maple Syrup
4 Apples; Peeled, Cored, Chopped
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
3 Eggs at Room Temp
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 Sticks Butter, Softened
1 1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla

Ingredients for Glaze:
6 tbsps unsalted butter        

1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)

2 tbsps heavy cream

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

 

Steps:
Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.



Bring Maple Syrup to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.



Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk until well combined.

In a third bowl, whip butter, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer until light and fluffy.


Once maple syrup is done simmering, pour into a lightly greased spring form pan.

Sprinkle chopped apple on top of the maple syrup and set aside.

Fold in buttermilk mixture and butter mixture into flour mixture in 3 parts until well combined.

Pour batter over apples and maple syrup and bake 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Allow the cake to cool slightly, then open spring form pan and flip onto a cake plate.

Mix Ingredients for glaze until smooth, pour onto cake and voila!

Ashley's Tip: Place a cookie sheet covered in foil under the cake pan. The maple syrup ever so slightly began to seep out of the pan. Save yourself some clean up.